Doha, QATAR – Qatar Airways today announced plans to launch flights to the southern Iranian city of Shiraz. The airline will commence twice-weekly flights from its Doha hub to Shiraz International Airport on June 5.

Shiraz will become the airline’s 101^st global destination and third route to Iran. The carrier already operates double daily services to the capital city of Tehran and five-flights-a-week to Mashad in northern Iran.  

News of the new route further enhances Qatar Airways’ commitment to Iran, where it first began operating services to the country in 2004 with the launch of the Tehran route, followed a year later by Mashad.

The new services will be operated with the airline’s Airbus A320 aircraft, which features 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.

Traffic for the new route is expected to come from around the Gulf region as well as Europe and North America.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said that the launch of flights to Shiraz supported the company’s business plan of operating to key cities around the world that the airline had identified as underserved.

“Qatar Airways is pleased to be bringing its third route to Iran online in early June. Iran is still largely underserved by international carriers and Shiraz in particular presents Qatar Airways with an opportunity to target new business,” he said.

“The potential is significant and we are looking forward to developing our market prospects with the launch of these new flights.”

“Iranian expatriates number between four and five million people, with many living in Europe and North America. We have good connections from these continents to Shiraz through our Doha hub, so facilitating travel for this expatriate community would soon be much easier.

“As the route to Shiraz develops, we will also look to add frequency and capacity to improve connectivity even further,” added Al Baker.  

Shiraz is home to over 1.5 million people and one of the largest cities in Iran. As the capital city of the Fars Province, Shiraz is the economic centre of southern Iran. Outbound traffic from the city will significantly contribute to Qatar Airways’ new flight.

Globally, Qatar Airways has launched 13 new routes since February 2010 – Bengaluru (Bangalore), Copenhagen, Ankara, Tokyo, Barcelona, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Phuket, Hanoi, Nice, Budapest, Bucharest and Brussels. Two additional destinations will be launched over the next few weeks – Stuttgart from March 6 and the Syrian city of Aleppo from April 6, with the latter becoming the airline’s milestone 100th destination. On 15 June Qatar Airways will start a daily non-stop service to Venice, the airline’s third destination in Italy.

By 2013, Qatar Airways plans to serve over 120 key business and leisure destinations worldwide with a modern fleet of more than 120 aircraft. Today, the airline’s fleet stands at 94 aircraft, flying to 98 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South America.

Source: Qatar Airways

Doha, QATAR – Qatar Airways today announced its European expansion is continuing with the Italian city of Venice set to join the airline’s growing network, effective June 15.

Venice, the city world famous for being built on water and its beautiful canals, will become Qatar Airways’ third gateway in Italy after Milan and Rome to where the airline operates daily flights. The addition of daily services to Venice raises the airline’s Italian presence to 21 flights a week.

It becomes the Doha-based airline’s 26^th European destination in a remarkable period of growth which has seen seven new routes introduced on the Continent over the past 12 months.

Qatar Airways has launched flights to Ankara, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Nice, Bucharest, Budapest, Brussels – the latter three in January alone – taking its European portfolio to 24 cities. From March 6, scheduled services begin to the German automobile manufacturing city of Stuttgart.

For travellers heading to Venice to see the stunning Piazza San Marco, the beautiful Rialto bridge or experience romantic gondola rides, Qatar Airways’ newly-announced route comes just in time for the busy European summer holiday season.

A year-round tourism destination, Venice stretches across 117 small islands along the Adriatic coastline in northeast Italy, hence being dubbed ‘Queen of the Adriatic’, ‘City of Canals’ and Italy’s ‘Floating City.’

The new route, non-stop from Qatar Airways’ Doha hub, will be operated with the airline’s newest Airbus A320 aircraft, featuring seat-back TV screens offering a choice of over 700 interactive audio and video entertainment programming. The aircraft has 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.

Passengers travelling from Venice can connect to an exciting range of business and leisure destinations served by Qatar Airways across the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, via Doha.

Similarly, travellers from connecting cities in Qatar Airways’ network will soon have a third Italian destination to choose from, a city that attracts a staggering 20 million tourists each year, as well as strong business traffic.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “Venice is a vibrant city with incredible appeal among leisure and business travellers, and we are confident that our new daily flights will be equally successful as our daily services to Rome and Milan.

“Italy is a large country where international traffic focuses mostly on Rome and Milan. By opening up the Venice route, it is very much in line with our long-term strategy of tapping into economically viable underserved markets. Venice has little long-haul access, therefore we are confident of a successful and profitable operation to this part of Italy.”

Marco Polo Airport in Venice serves one of the largest and most dynamic regions in Italy, home to many shoe, textile and eyeglass manufacturing companies with high export activity. The region is also well-known for its jewellery, as well as Murano glassworks and ceramics. Leading international fashion brands such as Diesel, Replay, Geox and United Colors of Benetton reside in close proximity, making Venice a vibrant commercial centre with also great potential for Qatar Airways’ cargo business.

While Venice has a relatively small population of around 270,000 inhabitants, the nearby cities of Bologna, Verona and Trieste collectively have a catchment area of over six million people, representing over 10 per cent of Italy’s total population.

The airline’s commitment to Europe has seen significant frequency increases on many European routes in recent months such as Paris, Geneva and Copenhagen. Capacity upgrades have also featured with the introduction of the carrier’s flagship Boeing 777 aircraft on several routes, including Madrid and London Heathrow.

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 94 aircraft, flying to 98 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South America. By 2013, Qatar Airways plans to serve over 120 key business and leisure destinations worldwide with a fleet of more than 120 aircraft.

The DOHA – VENICE schedules with effect from June 15 are: Daily Depart Doha               QR961 at 0910 hrs, arrive in Venice at 1430 hrs Depart Venice             QR962 at 1640 hrs, arrive in Doha at 2325 hrs

Source: Qatar Airways